The present invention relates generally to green lighting systems and more particularly to environmentally adaptive lighting systems.
Present day lighting systems are manufactured using incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, or light emitting diodes (LEDs) incorporated within heavy, bulky assemblies. The assemblies require separate manually controlled power sources that lack flexible options for controlling the assemblies.
Generally, the light assemblies operate in a pseudo digital mode. They are either on or off. Attempts to add adaptability, e.g., light dimming, require the use of manual controls and the addition of bulky dimming control modules.
Existing LED strings, of various colored lights, are programmed for on-off functions and ripple functions, but the LED string function must be physically pre-programmed and is not adaptable to changing conditions within a lighted area.
Computers are used to manually program light systems, however, the systems require external control modules for each lighting assembly, and once programmed, lack adaptable flexibility. The system must be reprogrammed to alter the lighting system performance.
Today's office lighting systems are costly, inefficient, bulky, and rely heavily on manual input to adjust brightness or turn off sections of lights where sunlight is present. Adaptively illuminating large areas is generally accomplished at the expense of manually removing unneeded bulbs, resulting in wasted space and limited flexibility in lighting options.
Therefore, what is needed is a cost effective, minimum footprint, power efficient, environmentally adaptive, automated lighting system that responds to environmental conditions with minimized requirements for manual input.